SPOT ON CHESS PUZZLES: 6 Puzzles “Playing Chess Under Tournament Stress”

SPOT ON CHESS PUZZLES: US WOMEN’S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP ~ FIGHTING CHESS!

The Ladies played for glory in the 2023 edition of the US WOMEN’S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP! With 39 out of a possible 66 games being decisive, as compared to the men’s championship with 25 games out of 66 games being settled in favor of a victor. The men had only a 38% games being decided one player’s way or the other whereas the women had a whooping 59 percent of games being decidedly decisive.

We have to ask ourselves “Why were so many games decisive in the US WOMEN’S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP?” Was it because of lower rated players playing “less” solid chess? Was it a lack of ability to handle the stress of competitive play? Was it because of distractions at the tournament site? No. It was the fact that the ladies turned out to be playing for the wins. I very much enjoyed this year’s edition of the US WOMEN’S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP. What an amazing event this year! A grueling 12 player round robin with plenty of stress for all 12 players.

One thing to note is that Irina Krush had an off event. I have always been a fan and look forward to her return to good form… but this event saw her allow draws in winning positions and a last round loss that showcased how tough this event was for her. She has won the US WOMEN’S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP an amazing seven times… here is to seeing her win an eighth title in a future edition but this was not her event to win this year. Hopefully she uses this event’s experiences to fuel her next drive towards chess excellence.

“Big drama show” - Boxer Gennady Golovkin.

Our two main players both had a collapse in the final round of the Championship: both Carissa Yip and Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova both lost their last round 11 games on Tuesday the 17th of October, 2023. Carissa Yip lost to Ruiyang Yan and Tokhirjonova lost to Jennifer Yu. Both of them lost with the White Pieces! Tokhirjonova lost in round 10 to GM Irina Krush as well… so the winner of this year’s event was Carissa Yip who crushed with 8.5 points out of a possible 11 points. Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova finished in second place with 8 points. Had she claimed that draw in round 10 though… Interestingly enough in the 2021 edition of this very same event Carissa Yip won with 8.5 points as well… while Women’s Grandmaster Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova took second place with 7 points! All of these competitors played interesting and demanding games - I look forward to seeing more of their chess art in the future!

Enjoy today’s six tactical positions and get out there and make your own chess art! ~ Sean.

PS Please feel free to visit Mark Crowther’s TWIC for all your tournament cross tables, games and chess fixings! The website can be found at: https://theweekinchess.com